US Civil War, M1860 Non-Regulation Officers Sword, 5th NY Cavalry, Johnny-Reb Souvenir?
This item is listed for historical interest only. It was listed on our site previously but has been sold and is no longer available for purchase.
Sold for: $595.00

Original era manufacture. We purchased this interesting sword about 3 years ago from a friend of ours, who in turn, purchased it from a family member of the Union soldier living in a small town in Northern Arizona.What we have is a German made (Clauberg) model 1860 non-regulation Federal officers sword, with a brass guard and brass mounted steel scabbard. The polished steel, slightly curvedblade measures 32 inches in length, running straight and true with no nicks or issues with the surface. It is devoid of any decoration beyond a faint makers logo on the reverse ricasso.The brass guard is a variant; typically the M1860 non-regulation sword will feature an ornately decorated guard in brass or steel, with a federal eagle and letters U.S.. This example has the basic outline of the eagles wings without any embellishments to the surface, and, without the letters U.S. The grip is wrapped in fishskin and bound with two strands of twisted brass wire. The steel bodied scabbard is free of dents, and decorated with a brass scabbard throat, drag and two suspension rings with brass attaching bands.A small handwritten note in pencil accompanied the sword at the time of our purchase. It reads, "Major George Tredwell Smith (Frankies grandfather) Izola Smith Clements father, served in 1860-1864 as Major and used this sword". Armed with this tidbit of information, I began a search on Ancestry.com; the results proved very interesting. A George T Smith, age 32, joined the 5th New York Cavalry on 17 September 1861; his rank, Sergeant-Major.He served with the regiment until 26 September 1862 when he was mustered out. Online sources show the 5th NY Cavalry takingthe field in March 1862, when ordered to join Bank's 5th Corps.From that time until August 29th 1862, the 5th NY saw very active service, suffering the loss of 11 Killed, 18 Wounded, and 43 missing or prisoners. In September 1862 it was assigned to the defenses of Washington D.C.So, what do we make of this sword? Is it simply a case of a regimental Sergeant Major wanting to have a nice looking sword to reflect his position of Sgt. Major, yet without the officer quality embellishments? Or, and perhaps a bit far-fetched on my part, a captured sword, used by a Johnnie-Reb who would not be caught dead carrying a weapon displaying the hated symbols of the Union.In either case, the sword is invery sound condition with no excusesneeded, and, literally "out-of-the-woods".